


12 Days

by emeraldpalace



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Christmas, Literally rated t only for swearing this is toothrotting fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 08:59:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13163607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emeraldpalace/pseuds/emeraldpalace
Summary: “I think I can make you enjoy Christmas,” he finally says as he puts the glassware away under the counter.Goro looks up from his drink. “Oh really? How?”Akira grins in that peculiar way of his, the one where Goro knows he’s up to something, and it itches his inner detective to figure out what it is, sending a shiver of anticipation down his spine.“Oh, you’ll see.”(Part of the ShuAke Secret Santa 2017)





	12 Days

**Author's Note:**

  * For [roisale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/roisale/gifts).



> This is for Nancy as part of the Shuake gift exchange!! I'm sorry that this is late, but I hope I could deliver on the " tender lovey dovey bullshit" with a side of romantic tension that you requested ♥
> 
> Merry belated Christmas and a Happy New Years in advance to you and anyone else reading this!!
> 
> (This is set in a basic future AU where basic plot points still happened but without the persona magic and everything sad that comes with it. Just, good vibes only, k?)

Goro doesn’t like Christmas. 

Of course, it’s a beautiful time in and of itself: The decorations give everything just a bit more of a colourful touch than usual, the festive lighting gives off a bright and homey atmosphere even in the darkest of nights, and the snow covers the whole city in a calming blanket which makes everything sparkle just a bit more brightly than it already does. It’s quite lovely, really. He doesn’t even mind the cold.

But it was also a hectic time at work, with all of his colleagues being much more stressed, trying to finish the last reports for the end of the year, while also stressing over presents and how to spend the time with their family and/or significant other, since at this point, spending Christmas and New Years alone is seen as just  _ sad _ .

He thinks it’s simply unnecessary. Christmas not even a recognized holiday in Japan, yet everyone is making such a fuss over a purely commercial event, and it only makes life harder for him, since he also had finals throughout December, and he really didn’t appreciate his workload increasing even more because grown adults let themselves be distracted by two days of the year.

At least that’s what he tells Akira when he asks him for his plans for Christmas, and the other both laughs and takes it as a personal offense.

“You sound almost like the Grinch here.”

“I take that as a compliment. Truly, the poor man simply wanted some peace and quiet, and everyone still kept bothering him.”

“You know that he’s the bad guy, right?”

“So? Doesn’t mean he can’t be relatable.”

Akira looks at him for a long moment over the counter, as Goro sips his coffee without breaking the eye contact.

In truth, there’s another, much uglier and bitter reason why Goro doesn’t particularly like the holiday season, but that’s not something he likes admitting even to himself, so Akira definitely doesn’t need to know about it.

“So you don’t like Christmas at all?”

“I suppose I can see why it’s popular, but I believe it’s unnecessary.”

Akira hums in reply and cleans out a glass in thought.

“I think I can make you enjoy Christmas,” he finally says as he puts the glassware away under the counter.

Goro looks up from his drink. “Oh really? How?”

Akira grins in that peculiar way of his, the one where Goro  _ knows _ he’s up to something, and it itches his inner detective to figure out what it is, sending a shiver of anticipation down his spine.

“Oh, you’ll see.”

Goro shrugs and casually looks away to scroll through his emails on his phone. “Suit yourself, but I’ll have you know, I’ve been a very successful Christmas-hating Grinch for the past two decades. It won’t be easy to change a habit like that.”

Akira leans onto the counter, his face falling just at the edge of Goro’s vision, and he can’t help but look up at the mischievous grey eyes grinning at him.

“Challenge accepted,” he almost whispers, and Goro can feel the barista’s breath tickling his face and he suppresses a shudder for a completely different reason this time.

Akira then straightens back up again and starts cleaning the syphon as if nothing happening, easily switching the topic to how Goro’s holding up with his exams and final papers.

He quite honestly forget about Akira’s proclamation soon after, because talking to and bantering with Akira is just so easy sometimes - he feels like he’s barely just started drinking his cup of coffee when suddenly it’s dark outside and Sakura-san comes back and says that it’s already long past closing time, but with much less bite than he did when Goro first became a regular at LeBlanc. Of course, he still apologizes for bothering Akira past his shift, but the barista only shrugs him off and replies that it’s really no bother at all.

It’s part of their usual routine, so familiar and undisturbed that Goro genuinely forgets about Akira’s “challenge” until 3 days later, on the 12th of December, a cylindrical object wrapped in obnoxiously sparkly red Christmas wrapping greets him on his work desk.

“What…?”

“Good morning,” Niijima-san greets him, and smiles at him uncharacteristically. “I believe that’s for you.”

He nods at her, and carefully sits down at his desk and studies the object. There’s no name on the package, either his or the recipients, and he carefully looks over to Niijima-san, who’s typing something on her laptop again, just as she usually would.

He slowly removes the scotch tape holding the wrapping paper together, careful not to rip the paper as much as possible (The wrapping is very neat, that much he can admit), only to reveal a silver metallic thermos, with a paper glued all around it’s side.

 

_ ✰✰✰For the super-hardworking Detective Prince, so he can start solving crimes first thing in the morning with the best coffee in Tokyo.✰✰✰   _

 

Next to the message is a cutesy drawing of a small figure resembling Santa Claus, in a red outfit and carrying a sack on its back, but with no beard and a white mask on its face, as if it does anything to hide the tell-tale black curls on the figure’s head.

He laughs quietly at the ridiculousness of the drawing and message, knowing it comes from the usually calm and collected barista, and pays no mind to Niijima looking up from her computer to look at him questioningly. After all, he will never not appreciate a cup of LeBlanc’s coffee.

He texts Akira during his lunch break.

 

Thank you for the coffee>   
Though I still don’t think any better of Christmas>

 

<Do not worry my friend, it is only the first step   
   to my intricate plan

 

I have to say, I don’t mind your ridiculous plan>    
as much if I get to have your coffee in return   

 

<I’m sorry but it won’t be coffee again. 

 

Then don’t bother anymore>

 

<Ouch.  
<Have you completed your task, by the way?

 

_ Task? _

He looks at the thermos again, the Akira-Santa Claus grinning at him and the message unchanged, but as he turns it around he sees another message at the back on the bottle. 

  
  


_ ✰✰✰Task No.1✰✰✰   _ _  
_ _ Compliment someone today. _

  
  


That was certainly unexpected.

 

What’s the point of that?>

 

<Christmas is about receiving /and/ giving, dear detective.  
<It’s not very nice to just get gifts and not do anything in    
return, no?

 

But I don’t care for either giving /or/ receiving>

 

<You’ve had my coffee, so now you should do something   
   for someone else, don’t you think?

 

It was mildly annoying, how Akira could bend him to his will, but Goro is a good person, and more importantly, hates being in other people’s debts, especially those who know how get under his skin like Akira, so when Niijima comes back to the office, he notices how her usual black hair pins have been replaced by new, metallic ones with crystal decorations, and compliments those.

“Oh, thank you. They were a gift from Makoto, actually.”

She goes on to explain how Makoto had surprised her with a homemade dinner and a present last weekend, even though it wasn’t any special occasion, simply because she thought Sae had looked tired and deserved something nice.

The story puts a smile both on his and his superior’s face, and Niijima proclaims how she should work harder so as to not let her sister’s effort be in vain, which in turn motivates Goro to be more productive himself. Perhaps he could start complimenting her more often.

 

Done✰>

 

The next day there’s no package on his desk, to his mild disappointment, but as he opens his apartment door that evening he notices a dark green envelope just at his feet, sealed in with a sticker depicting a holly leaf. Without even bothering to remove his thick coat, he takes of his shoes and takes the envelope to his kitchen to open it up with a knife, and takes out the content within it. 

The first piece of paper is a voucher for two hours in the Tokyo Indoor Climbing Park for two people.

The second one is a handwritten message, again with a doodle of Akira in a Santa Claus suit and mask, this time winking at him and pointing at the text next to it.

 

_ ✰✰✰ Even if you work hard, it’s important to take a break and enjoy your hobbies every once in a while.✰✰✰   _

_ ✰✰✰Task No.2✰✰✰   _ _  
_ _ Call/text someone you haven’t seen in a while. _

He feels genuinely impressed at Akira’s effort. He knows those vouchers don’t come cheap, and he also knows that he’s mentioned his hobby of bouldering only once or twice to the other, one of those in the context of not having gone there in a while due to his work and studies taking up most of his time. 

He could ignore the task of course, but once he looks at the voucher again and looks at the close-up of a couple scaling the walls together, he knows exactly who he wants to contact.

 

Hello, how are you doing?>  
Are you perhaps free this weekend?>

* * *

He doesn’t have to come to the office the next day, so just as his classes end, he takes the next train to Yongen-Jaya and all but sprints through the streets to LeBlanc to shield himself from the unforgivingly cold winds that day.

He feels incredibly relieved inside the warm space of the café and audibly sighs once the door keeps the winds away from him, just as he hears a giggle definitely directed at him.

“Welcome home, Honey,” Akira says, and Goro does his best not to groan at the nickname. It started out as a joke, once, when Akira came home after class when Goro was already there, waiting for him like a housewife,  _ apparently _ , after which the barista thought it incredibly funny to greet him like that every once in a while. It was annoying to say the least, and Goro had asked him to stop after a particularly embarrassing incident when an elderly woman took the words too literally and started asking them about their relationship, but sometimes Akira still occasionally called him cheesy pet names when there were no customers, much to Goro’s chagrin. He had hoped that if he just didn’t react to it, the other would eventually stop, though that hadn’t worked so far. (He feels like Akira can tell it still annoys him, even through his poker face, but he tries not to dwell on that thought.)

“It really is cold out there,” he says in greeting instead, and Akira hums in agreement, already starting to brew Goro’s usual order. He doesn’t say anything else, so Goro doesn’t either, happy to sit in comfortable silence and checking up on his phone as his body slowly warms up in Leblanc’s homey atmosphere.

“There you go,” Akira finally says after a few minutes, and Goro is about to thank him, when he notices a “3” made out of chocolate powder floating on the milky foam in his cup.

“It’s on the house,” the barista adds with a wink, while also pointing at the folded piece of paper stuck between the cup and the saucer.

“You can’t really call it ‘on the house’ if I have to complete an unnecessary chore in return, don’t you think?”

“It’s not an unnecessary chore, just some nice acts to try and reawaken your dormant Christmas spirit.”

“You mean my non-existent Christmas spirit,” Goro replies, but still lifts the cup and unfolds the paper.

There is no reasoning for the gift, nor the announcement of the task, but simply three words in a neat cursive handwriting:

 

_ Thank someone sincerely. _

 

“Hm,” Goro comments as he folds the piece of paper back and sets it next to his cup, and enjoys the first sip of his coffee with a slightly more chocolaty taste than normal.

“Can you already feel your inner Christmas spirit stirring?”

“Not at all, I’m afraid.”

Akira sighs deeply. “I guess I’ll have to try even harder from now on.”

“I would suggest you give up altogether, but you never listen to me anyway.”

“You know me too well, detective.”

The smile at each other in mutual understanding, but don’t say anything else as Akira starts cleaning the counter while Goro simply enjoys his coffee and checks his phone every once in a while.

It’s not a banter sort of day, but that’s fine. It’s as comfortable as ever to just sit in companionable silence and let his mind rest for a while, knowing that there’s no pressure to engage with someone else, but he’s welcome to do so if he wants to. He’s not sure he ever could enjoy moments like that before he discovered the café, though something at the back of his mind tells him it might just be Akira being able to make him feel that.

Still… he looks at the piece of paper lying next to his cup, and back to Akira, who has since finished cleaning and casually leans with his elbows on the counter, scrolling at his own phone. Perhaps, it might be nice to let Akira know that.

He finishes the last of his coffee before taking a deep breath and steeling himself for what’s to come.

“Akira,” he says.

“Hm?”, Akira hums in question, just as Goro stands up to look the other straight in the eyes.

“I… would like to thank you.”

Akira’s eyes widen slightly, but he still nods at Goro to indicate that he’s listening. He takes another breath, but averts his eyes to his cup.

“I’m sure Sakura-san complains a lot about letting me stay so late, and you must have other things to do in your free time, so I truly appreciate that you let me stay late as often as you do. Truly, when I come here, I…”, he looks up and loses his train of thought once he sees just how focused Akira’s eyes seem to be on him, and instinctively, he takes one of Akira’s hands of his own, breaking the other’s concentration and making him look down. Before he can comment, Goro goes on:

“It’s one of the few times when I feel I can truly relax, both from work and my university studies. I can talk freely about the things that annoy me, and you don’t judge me for what I do or say in here. You make lovely coffee and I have a lot of fun when talking to you, even if your ideas are often ridiculous at best.”

He can’t help the light jibe, but as always, Akira simply responds with a smile and a loud exhale that pass as laughter, and Goro feels a comforting squeeze around his hand and as their eyes meet, around his heart.

“So… thank you. For… being such a good friend to me. I truly appreciate it.”

He can feel his face heat up in embarrassment, his brain finally catches up with the adrenaline in his blood system and he almost, almost regrets pouring his heart out like that. Their relationship was comfortable, but casual. They were close, undoubtedly, but not as close as Goro knows his other friends are to him - He doesn’t know the full story, but he knows that Akira has helped them all a lot in their personal lives, from exposing Ann and Ryuji’s abusive high school teacher to slowly, but surely helping Futaba come out of her isolation over the course of one summer, events that Goro’s presence in his life simply cannot compare to.

He’s about to apologize for his outburst, because surely that would make Akira incredibly uncomfortable, when the other lets out a slight… whine? And hides his face in his free arm.

“...Are you okay?”

Akira hesitates, but then nods. Goro watches him in confusion, feeling the hand on his own tense up, but not let go, and then notices the bright red tips of his ears that poke out of his messy black curls.

Goro almost laughs when the thought hits him but… “Are you, perhaps, embarrassed?”

Akira then jerks his head back up with a light frown and sure enough, his face looks just as red as Goro’s feels, which gives him just a tad more confidence than he had before.

“You know, I think I should have recorded your reaction. The others in the group chat would love to see you like that.”

“I’d block you from the chat. Forever.”

“Then I would just ask Futaba to bypass your block and add me back in.”

Akira chuckles. “Fair, but more importantly, you would have to record your little speech too, since the others should know  _ why _ I’m so flustered.”

“I see,” Goro replies and leans in just a bit more on the counter, drunk on adrenaline and the memory of  _ the _ Akira Kurusu red-faced and at a loss for words. “And what exactly made you feel so flustered?”

“How could I not be?”, the other asks and meets his gaze head-on, drawing even closer, “when you use your princely charms like th-”

The shrill clinging of the bell feels like fire to his nervous system when it brings him back to reality and his whole body jerks back, and before he knows it, his elbow hits the cup on the counter, which falls on his leg before rolling down and shattering on the floor.

 

“Shit-”

* * *

 

“I’m very sorry about this,” Goro says as he comes back upstairs after having changed into Akira’s jeans, “especially after what I said-”

“It’s fine, really, don’t worry about it,” the other assures him as he hands him his pair of coffee-stained dress pants. “Are you sure you don’t want to get it cleaned here? There’s a laundromat just across-”

“Yes, I’m sure,” he replies and tries to ignore the obvious strain in his voice. “I’ve bothered you enough as is-”

“I bet Sojiro wouldn’t mind if you stayed here to wait.”

Akira looks at him for a meaningful moment, not insistent, but with obvious hope in his eyes, an encouraging smile on his lips, and for some reason it’s just - too much.

Goro takes his pants with just a bit more force than necessary, and puts the folded pair into his briefcase, careful not to wrinkle the folders and documents inside it.

“I should really be going,” he finally replies and turns around to leave. “Thank you for letting me borrow your pants, I’ll be sure to bring them-”

It’s more so Akira’s touch on his wrist rather than his exclamation of “Wait!” that makes Goro stop in his tracks.

He just looks at him, his eyes showing a rare kind of uncertainty, but it doesn’t diminish their determination in the least.

“Thank you. For what you told me earlier. It… means a lot to me.”

Something in Goro’s throat tightens, at his eyes, at his small smile, at the touch on his wrist, at his  _ words, _ and he can’t do anything but nod as he meets Akira’s gaze with his own surprised and exposed one.

Akira’s smile widens even more and something in his chest stirs, constricts and tightens and he feels like he might suffocate, yet it’s not painful, but before he can dwell on it Akira lets go of him with a final squeeze, and  _ that  _ makes something inside of him  _ hurt _ .

“I’ll see you around then?”

“Yes, I’ll… see you.”

He manages to smile at Akira and make his way calmly down the stairs. He then bids Sakura-san a hasty farewell, and he can barely hear the ringing of the bell and the slam of the door as he all but runs to the train station. Some people look at his strangely, since the train isn’t set to arrive for another two minutes, but he’s still flushed and out of breath once he hides his face in his hands.

God, what is he  _ doing _ ?

* * *

He looks forward to bouldering with Ann on Sunday even more than usual, because much more than relaxation he desperately needs a distraction from Akira becoming an increasing part of his daily routine.

They haven’t even met in three days since the coffee incident, but Akira still somehow manages to sneak into his daily life by leaving gifts either at work or, on one memorable occasion, in his shoe, (a face mask “ _ so the dashing Detective Prince can stay ever handsome✰✰✰  _ ”, which he surely doesn’t need) and making him do harmless but ultimately useless things. (Sure, Inoshita park  _ was _ pretty this time of year, with the many decorations and lighting adorning the trees and lake houses, but taking a walk didn’t add anything to his day, when he might have as well spent that time at LeBlanc.)

Today it was a bright red bento box with glittery Christmas tree stickers left just outside his apartment with the demand that he do some kind of sport to keep his body and mind healthy, which he was about to do either way.

He momentarily forgets all of that when Ann greets him with a long warm hug in front of the climbing park and they exchange pleasant hello’s that aren’t just pleasantries, she asks about his college, he asks about her photoshoot in Seoul, and soon enough they make their way inside to make use of Akira’s gift.

Still, he can’t avoid bringing up the whole ‘challenge’ once she glimpses the bento box inside his bag and asks him if he finally had a  _ special someone _ in his life. (It only embarrasses him because she wiggles her eyebrows suggestively, and not, absolutely not, because it connects Akira to the idea of a ‘special someone’. Definitely.)

Ann only finds it even funnier once he explains the situation and she laughs for a solid minute before calming down.

“No, but that’s really cute!”, she exclaims through the last of her giggles. “ _ Someone _ has to get you out of your stuffy office, especially during Christmas!”

“I still don’t see what’s so important about it.”

She turns away with a mock-offended look at him. “You really are the Grinch.”

“Thanks.”

Still, despite the joking and the teasing, climbing with Ann is as always a delight. She whines and complains just as much as the first time she asked to come with him, how her nails being ruined, how her arms hurt, how a route is _ clearly _ on a much higher level than it’s listed as, but she’s not afraid of heights and fights tooth and nail until she gets to the top despite her complaints, and that’s something Goro can truly admire, and it motivates him to do better himself.

They’re taking a short break after an hour when suddenly Ann sits right next to him with her phone in hand.

“Smile!”

“Wh-”

The shutter goes off several times and before he knows it, Ann has already scooted away from him and vigorously taps on her phone.

“What was that about?”

“I need to send proof to Akira.”

“Proof…?”

She rolls her eyes dramatically and shoves her phone in his face. “Proof that you’re doing your task, duh!”

He carefully takes her phone in hand and swipes through the various pictures she’s taken and while her face stays in a bright grin throughout all of them, his goes through an evolution from surprise, to confusion, to a weak open-mouthed smile in the last two. He looks at the second to last one, the one that’s slightly less blurry, where two locks of his hair fell out of his ponytail and frame his flushed and glistening face, as you can see the beginning of a few walls behind both him and Ann. It’s not the best picture of him ever taken, but he’s sweaty and tired either way, so that’s probably as good as it will get.

“There, send this one,” he says as he hands Ann her phone back and he nods in approval.

“Alright then~.”

Just a few minutes later Ann decides to attempt the overhanging wall again, and while Goro secures her, he hears the notification sound of her phone go off at his feet. He glances down, and while he doesn’t want to read the message per se, he can’t help but wonder at the long string of Japanese and English characters coming from Akira in a seemingly random order. Did Morgana perhaps walk over his phone?

* * *

Akira’s gift giving continues into the next week onward and Goro has given up hope that the barista would grow tired of it, but he has to admit that it’s getting increasingly more fun to see what he will come up with next.

So far he has left him a terrible pun about a detective retiring to become a farmer and preferring to grow ‘undercover crops’, a whipped creme crêpe which mysteriously appeared while he and Sae were out on their lunch break (he has long stopped questioning how Akira gets into the places he does), and another free coffee at LeBlanc, which Goro immediately criticized when he came in to return Akira’s jeans.

“Running out of ideas, are we?”

“Not at all,” Akira replies with a casual grin. “I just know what you like.”

“I must admit that the coffee is very good, but I fear the customer service here thinks too highly of themselves,” he says in the tone of his restaurant reviews on his blog. “I might as well go get my coffee from  _ Starbucks _ .”

Akira widens his eyes comically and looks around the empty café warily.

“You should be glad that Sojiro isn’t here,” he whispers dramatically as he leans into Goro’s personal space, “He would have banned you for life otherwise.”

“Ah, that would be bad, the coffee here is quite good,” he whispers back.

“Only ‘quite good’?”

“The best coffee in all of Tokyo.”

“Not in Japan?”

“Well,” Goro strokes his chin theatrically, “the coffee from the Dunkin’ Donuts in Kyoto was also very-”

His phone rings before either he or Akira have a chance to continue their bantering. He considers simply not taking it but once he sees Niijima-san’s name he knows it must be important.

As the call continues, his mood steadily worsens, and the clear disappointment on Akira’s face only furthers it, but work is work and Goro already starts to collect his things as Niijima gives him the address he has to go to.

“I’m sorry,” he says once he hangs up and already puts on his coat and his gloves- “There’s been a robbery in Shibuya and I need to-”

“Yeah, I get it,” Akira replies, not looking at him right away, and instead already taking Goro’s coffee to clear it away. “Be careful.”

“It’s nothing dangerous, the robbers are already being pursued, I’m just going to help collect evidence on site.”

“Still,” he says, and walks around the counter before stopping right in front of him, only to take the scarf that’s still hanging at the back of Goro’s chair and wrap it around his neck. His hands linger on his chest and the whispered “Stay safe” as long dark eyelashes flutter around smiling eyes makes Goro swallow drily. He can feel himself warm up in a way that has nothing to do with the clothes he’s wearing.

* * *

 

Goro, contrary to the general belief of the public, is not very experienced in romance. Contrary to the popular belief among his friends, he’s also not completely blind to it, meaning he can absolutely tell why he’s both more relaxed and more tense than usual whenever he’s around Akira, or thinking about Akira, or simply having Akira be a part of his life.

Akira, by all accounts, is a wonderful person. Futaba once said that everyone is a little bit in love with him, which he doesn’t doubt for a second. He’s quiet but witty, charming, but in a genuine way, unlike Goro himself, as well as compassionate and not afraid to get into trouble in order to help others. His good looks don’t hurt either, and while Akira is aware of them, he’s not arrogant about it. Frankly, it’s almost impossible to not develop a crush on Akira Kurusu at some point, which is exactly what Goro tells himself to deal with the fact that Akira sees him as friend, perhaps even a good one, but surely nothing more.

That is, until on the morning of the 23rd of December, he is hit with neither a flattering comment, nor a task per se.

 

_ Do you want to spend Christmas Eve together? _

_ □Yes    □No _

 

It seems almost too ridiculous to be real, if it weren’t for the fact that all of Akira’s messages in the past two weeks have been equally cheesy and ridiculous if they were to be taken seriously, which Goro hadn’t done. Akira loves being dramatic and funny, as well as putting on a show, which is all the explanation you need for leaving obnoxiously Christmas-themed apparel for him to find every day with cheesily flirty messages that were clearly meant as jokes to make fun of his popularity as the Detective Prince.

Unless they weren’t.

Which would be equally ridiculous, because there’s nothing Akira would gain from being with Goro except maybe a nice conversation partner, which he probably already had more than enough of.

Goro, much like with romance, is not overly familiar with Christmas, but he is aware of the fact that it’s traditionally a day for either for families or for couples to spend the day together, walking around town and admiring the beautiful scenery while all but cuddling up together to protect each other from the bitter cold of winter, and finally giving each other presents to have physical proof of their affection to each other.

Goro knows that, so surely Akira must be aware of it, too.

It’s also not like he’s inviting Goro to spend Christmas Eve together with their group of friends, because last night they all discussed their plans when it turned out that nearly all of them already decided to spend the day either with their families and/or significant others. It was a discussion that Goro decided not to partake in, only reading it from his notifications so as to not seem sad and lonely when they asked him what he was planning on doing. 

It was a discussion which, he now realizes, Akira also didn’t participate in.

 

Fuck.

 

As Niijima-san enters their office, she finds him with his head on his desk, and instead of asking him what’s wrong she simply pats his head once and says:

“Come on, let’s work hard today so we can take tomorrow off.”

“It’s a Sunday anyway,” Goro almost whines as he lifts his head.

“Yes, but I’m sure neither of us wants to actually work tomorrow, so get going.”

He sighs. “Yes, ma’am.”

Despite yes, not actually wanting to have to work on a Sunday, Goro can tell that his mind just isn’t in it as he keeps glancing to the piece of paper with the question over and over again, and by the time lunch comes around she all but throws him out of the office, claiming with an exasperated sigh and knowing smile that he won’t get any work done today either way.

It hurts, being told that he’s useless as soon as some pesky little feelings start getting to him, but Goro is nothing is not determined to keep his inner peace of mind intact, which is why he makes his way to Yongen-Jaya as soon as possible.

What Goro didn’t consider, is that somehow, his brain made him unable to bring up the topic to Akira in the first place.

They chatted, as they usually would, chatting about various topics, going into discussions about sometimes philosophical, sometimes just stupid topics (“ _ Of course _ fish isn’t meat.” “What do you eat of the fish then? The bones?”) but neither of them even brought up anything Christmas-related and Goro was growing more and more tense.

It’s only when another customer came in, an elderly woman who wanted some curry for early dinner, when Akira left him to tend to the kitchen and he finally had room to breathe and think of what to do.

The piece of paper with his answer feels heavier than lead in his pocket and he knows he’s not able to just give it to him straight away - it would only be humiliating, especially if it turns out that Akira was really just joking around.

So he does what he does best: Avoid unpleasant confrontations and build ugly but usable roads to achieve his goals.

“I think I’ll be going now,” he announces casually.

“So soon?” Akira steps away from to stove to actually look at him in surprise.

“Yes, I left the station early, so I would like to catch up on work at home if possible.”

“Oh. Sure.” He tries not to cringe at the disappointment in Akira’s voice.

“I’ll just leave the money on the counter, alright? You can keep the change.”

“What? You don’t have to do that, you could just wait a minute-”

“It’s really no problem, bye.”

It wasn’t the smoothest or the most polite goodbye he’s ever had but it will have to do.

It couldn’t have been more than 5 minutes when he feels his phone buzzing and he almost, almost jumps at the message.

 

<Is at Shibuya Station at 8pm alright for you?

* * *

Goro arrives at the station at 7:55 and Akira is already standing in front of Hachiko and smiling once he sees him, and soon enough, the barista leads the way to their destination.

Akira hadn’t actually told him where they were going, but based on the fact that he hadn’t already made him go there by himself, it was only expected that they would eventually end up at the local Christmas market.

The large plaza was filled to the brim with rows of small alpine booths decorated with fake snow and plants and topped of with at least three layers of fairy lights each, selling everything from food to drinks to unreasonably expensive quirky souvenirs made for tourists and punch-tipsy adults alike, with a merry-go-round thrown in here or there to entertain the children running around and trying to appeal to the for-once generous hearts of their parents into buying them sweets and overpriced toys. In the middle of the plaza stood an enormous Christmas tree, at least three stories tall, adorned with bright lights that change colour every few seconds and too many ornaments to count, around which the innermost booths formed a circle and towards all the other people on the market seemed to slowly but surely gravitate towards.

“It’s pretty,” he comments.

“Oh my, has the Christmas spirit finally taken over the heartless detective?”

“No, I simply have functioning eyes. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s a colossal waste of money, both for the citizens and the city itself.”

“It’s seems to be lucrative for the city since the market keeps getting bigger and bigger every year.”

“You know, they could be using that money to support our poor overworked law enforcement,” Goro jokingly whines and then pointedly looks at Akira, “or help small local businesses that are in danger of being overrun by massive international companies.”

“Come on now, your Grinch,” Akira simply laughs and grabs his forearm to pull him further into the market, “You just need some good Christmas food to get you in the mood.”

He doesn’t let go of him even as they first walk past various souvenir booths, some of which impress even Goro with their handiwork on candles, Christmas ornaments, or teacups. In fact it’s only when Akira leaves him at a small tall table to buy both of them some punch that Goro even notices that Akira has been holding him by his wrist since they entered the market.

Akira comes back with two boot-shaped mugs full with hot, fruity punch, and it feels so nice in the winter cold attacking Goro’s face that he feels the need to repay him by buying both of them equally hot and delicious waffles, despite Akira’s protests. They turn out to be way overpriced to say the least, but he thinks it might be worth it once he can point out to Akira that he has chocolate sauce on his chin, only to wipe it off with a napkin himself, because the other keeps wiping at his  _ wrong _ left.

“Thanks,” Akira says with a sheepish smile. “Say, do you wanna try mine?”

“Oh, sure,” Goro replies, ready to take a piece of with the plastic fork he got for himself, when Akira simply puts his waffle to his face and he doesn’t have really have a choice, does he?

Still it’s nice, warm and hearty with the added bananas, and he tells a satisfied Akira as much. “Do you want to try mine?,” he asks in return and Akira nods enthusiastically, not even bothering to pick it up himself and looking at Goro expectantly. He sighs, and slowly holds his strawberry and whipped cream waffle the other’s face, trying to avoid both Akira’s shameless gaze as he bites into it and the suspicious looks of some of the people who pass by them.

They talk while finishing their food and drinks, and when those are finished, Akira promptly takes both of their mugs to get refills despite Goro’s protests, and they slowly but surely make their way towards the Christmas tree in the middle of the plaza, shoulders brushing every once in a while and giggling at lame jokes undoubtedly because of the alcohol’s influence.

The conversation slowly dies off as they reach the large tree, both of then content to simply sit at their drink and look at the large, decorated structure as well as the other market goers around them, consisting mainly of shy couples holding hands and smiling parents following their excited children around and telling them to be careful not to run into anybody else.

“You know,” Akira starts at some point, startling Goro out of his own thoughts, “I never used to like Christmas before.”

“Really?”, the shocks seeps through his voice and makes him say it louder than he intended it to be. “The insufferable Santa, Akira Kurusu, used to dislike the festive season?”

“It’s true,” Akira chuckles lightly, but his eyes take on a slightly duller look as he looks up the Christmas tree again.

“I mean, I didn’t really hate it, but I just never saw the point in it, since I didn’t really have any friends back home and my parents aren’t the festive types either. But then the guys actually threw a party on Christmas at LeBlanc last year and I…,” he trails off, smiling at the memory.

“They all decorated the place nicely, and gave me all these presents when I didn’t even get anything for them… and I really loved it.” Something constricts around Goro’s throats, something warm and heavy, especially when Akira turns to look at him with a knowing look. “I think I was just bitter when I saw everyone else being happy and having so much fun without me. So I thought-”

“You thought you could make me enjoy Christmas by giving me gifts and spending time with me.”

He didn’t mean for it to sound so accusatory, but Akira smiles sheepishly anyway. “I guess I did.”

He knows Akira looks expectantly, wanting to know whether it has worked or not, but instead Goro takes his hand and starts leading him further into the market, claiming that he wants to see what other boots have to offer as well.

They end up walking around like that for almost two hours, definitely passing by several booth twice, but neither of them cared as there was always something new to banter over, another drink to be had, another hand to be pulled to show the other something exciting and the touches lingering longer and longer a the evening goes on.

When Goro almost stumbles into another person and just barely avoids staining his coat in beer as his own fourth mug of punch, he decides that it’s time to go home, even if both Akira and the selfish part of him whine about not wanting to go just yet. Akira first offers to let Goro sleep over at his place, since he lives closer to Shibuya, but the detective isn’t quite drunk enough to let himself go like that, so instead the barista decides that he’ll see him home, despite his, admittedly weak, protests that it’s too much of a detour, but Akira simply assures him that it’s really no problem for him.

The train ride and subsequent walk to Goro’s apartment is quiet, much quieter than he expected after they basically talking non-stop all evening, but it was far from unpleasant, especially with Akira brushing against him every so often in a way that seemed to be less and less by accident, which he couldn’t bring himself to mind as he probably should.

It’s only once they’re in front of his house that the weight of the situation really hits him, when Akira shuffles the hands in his jacket pockets nervously and pierces him with an almost anxious look that says that he really wants to say something, but doesn’t quite know how to - despite contrary belief, Goro thinks Akira probably is just as bad at expressing his feelings as he is.

“I enjoyed myself,” he finally says and he can clearly see Akira’s shoulders relaxing even through his thick winter coat.

“You did?”, he asks with a relieved smile.

Goro nods. “It was nice. Spending time with you, I mean.”

“I liked our date too.”

So he was going to bring it up.

“This was a date after all, then,” he remarks and Akira makes sure to smile reassuringly.

“Only if you want it to be.”

Goro nods to himself again, and then lets himself return the smile.

“I do.”

“Goro?”

“Hm?”

“Can I kiss you?”

He almost laughs at the innocence of the question, as if he truly needs any more clarification, but instead he wraps his arms around Akira’s neck and whispers “ _ Please _ .”

Goro doesn’t have much experience with romance, or kissing for that matter, but even he can tell that they’re being sloppy, alcohol and adrenaline and excited giggles all mixing together in a way that would be sure to ruin the experience for anyone other than them, but it’s  _ Christmas _ , he’s _ happy _ and  _ kissing Akira Kurusu _ , and he frankly can’t bring himself to care about anything else.

**Author's Note:**

> I live for both Akira and Goro being dumbdumbs in love, as well as Goro&Ann friendship ok
> 
> Again, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Nancy and anyone else reading this!!


End file.
